Everybody loves a winner

Sen. Manny Pacquiao put up a good fight against Cuba’s Yordenis Ugas, a much younger and, therefore, faster opponent.

His defeat at the hands of Ugas, although unexpected, confirms the truism that nothing is permanent; all things come to an end.

Manny may also reconsider his plan to run for president next year as he has reached the end of his rope in politics.

Filipinos voted for Manny in the Senate when he was defeating his opponents in the ring.

But the same voters will reject him at the polls this time around if he runs for the highest office of the land.

As the saying goes, everybody loves a winner.

The advice to Pacquiao also goes to other presidential hopefuls who were losers in previous presidential elections.

Filipinos are cruel to losers in the presidential contest; they have never voted for one who lost in previous presidential polls.

We are not like American voters who installed Richard M. Nixon as president in 1969, after he was defeated by John F. Kennedy in the 1960 election.

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The saying, “a quitter never wins, a winner never quits,” doesn’t apply to Pacquiao – and for that matter, other losers – even in gambling.

Manny is known as a gambler who has lost large sums of money at the gaming tables and cockfights.

He wanted to recoup his losses in gambling by constantly fighting in the ring.

Most gamblers are like Manny; they never quit until it’s too late.

Manny was expected to earn $5 million in his fight with Ugas, plus a share of the sales in pay-per-view.

Based on past fights, Pacquiao could have earned up to $50 million in pay-per-view sales, on top of the guaranteed earnings in the ring.

Because of his defeat, his fans will no longer patronize the pay-per-view services.

Of the $5 million (P251.24 million in Philippine currency), 30 percent in taxes will go to the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or $1.5 million (P75 million).

What will be left of his gross earnings – excluding payments to his manager and retinue of training staff and hangers-on – will be P176.24 million.

The money is not enough to fund his presidential campaign unless he dips into his remaining earnings from previous fights.

However, the earnings from his previous fights have been squandered in gambling and business ventures which have flopped, according to unimpeachable sources.

His mansion in Forbes Park is up for sale, but there are no takers. Most of his property holdings in the US have either been sold or sequestered by the IRS for non-payment of taxes, the same sources said.

Filipino voters, especially the hoi polloi, are spoiled during election campaigns. They want to be showered with “graces” from candidates and will reject those who don’t oblige them.

Since Pacquiao has been known to be overly generous to hangers-on and even to strangers, the voters will naturally expect him to be generous with his money during the election campaign.

People who received manna or balato (giveaways) from Pacquiao’s previous fights will forget the past favors and vote for his rivals who have the money.

Such is the reality of Philippine politics. “No money, no honey,” as an old, crooked saying goes.

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Health Secretary Francisco Duque III may want to learn from his fellow Cabinet member, Agriculture Secretary William Dar, when it comes to the use of unspent funds.

The Department of Agriculture has returned to the National Treasury at least P9.8 billion or 17 percent of the DA’s unused funds.

The Commission on Audit (COA) has flagged the DA for the P9.8 billion in unused funds.

But where is the irregularity when the agriculture department returned the unused funds to the National Treasury?

Would the COA have wanted the unspent funds used in monkey business?

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“We assure our clienteles – farmers, fishers, livestock raisers and agri-fishery industry stakeholders – and partners from the private sector, local government units and international funding institutions and the public, that we (at the DA) do not and will not tolerate corruption,” said Dar in reacting to the COA flagging his department for the P9.8-billion unused funds.

Dar is a technocrat through and through, and not a politician who would cater to the whims of government bureaucrats.

Before joining the Duterte administration, Dar served as director-general of a global agricultural research institute based in India.

An academic, he’s been engaged with multiple agricultural groups in non-government organizations (NGOs), usually working hand-in-hand with government.

An Indian friend who knows Dar well said people in India love the aggie chief.

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A head of mission has appointed his own successor, since he is coming home to campaign for a possible presidential candidate in the 2022 elections.

In making the appointment, he has acted inappropriately, arrogating unto himself the power of the President.

These two men have a history together, both having been recommended to be charged for alleged corruption amounting to P1 billion by no less than the Senate some years back.

How they were able to wangle their appointments despite graft charges against them is anybody’s guess.